


nothing holding you down

by starblessed



Series: everything you ever want, everything you ever need [2]
Category: The Greatest Showman (2017)
Genre: Arguing, F/M, Pregnancy, Unsafe Pregnancy Behaviors, phillip just cares a lot ok, please don’t let pregnant women on trapezes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-14 09:18:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13587024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starblessed/pseuds/starblessed
Summary: Anne might be pregnant, but she’s notthatpregnant. Certainly not too pregnant to practice her act.Phillip strongly disagrees.





	nothing holding you down

**Author's Note:**

> written for a tumblr prompt (which I’m still taking!) over at [abroholoselephanta](http://abroholoselephanta.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> Technically set in my Family!verse just because it includes pregnant Anne.

“Hang on. I don’t understand.”

Anne doesn’t turn around. “What’s not to understand?” she asks, voice chilled as the Arctic tundra, while she continues to wrap her wrists. “I spoke very clearly.”

“Then maybe I’ve forgotten how to comprehend English.” Phillip takes a step closer, looming behind her reflection in the mirror. His arms are crossed over his chest, face set in a stern scowl. It strikes him in an instant that he looks exactly like his father.

If the thin line to Anne’s lips is any indication, she thinks so too. “What are you telling me?” she demands, finally turning around. “You’re gonna stop me when I get up on that trapeze?”

Phillip is certain it’s not possible to stop Anne from doing _anything_ she wants to do. That doesn’t mean he won’t argue with her about it. “You’re not going up there. I can’t let you, Anne.”

Indignation sparks like fire in the dark pools of her eyes. She curls her lips back like she wants to snap at him, but thinks better at the last moment. Instead, her face morphs into a grimace. She draws up her shoulders as if she wants to get away from him, tucking both hands over her middle. Her stomach is still flat; she can fit into her training clothes with ease. In a few weeks, that won’t be the case.

“I don’t understand,” Phillip continues. “You stopped performing. You told W.D. that you couldn’t anymore, with the...“

“The baby,” Anne finishes when he hesitates. “I’m pregnant, not dead.”

He knows that; and he knows that no force on earth could keep Anne tied to the ground. She is always reaching up, up towards the sky. She is pulled there by her own personal gravity, in defiance of the rest of the world. He understands that the air is her refuge. It is the one place where she is free from scrutiny, self-consciousness, the burdens of society. In the air, Anne can let go of everything that ties her down, and fly.

She hasn’t been on the trapeze in over a week. As far as Phillip knows, Anne hasn’t _ever_ gone that long without practicing. Energy has steadily been coiling up inside of her, like a spring ready to snap. He’s been anticipating the moment she finally snapped, but that doesn’t mean he knows how to handle it.

He can’t tie Anne down; but he also can’t stand the thought of anything happening to her or their baby.

A moment of silence drags on. Each second is agonizing. Anne stares at him, restless and furious, while Phillip struggles for words. He doesn’t have Barnum’s silver tongue, or Anne’s frank honesty. He can’t convince her of anything, or forbid her from going. All he can do is say how he feels, and he isn’t sure how.

“It’s too dangerous,” is all he says, finally. The words drag themselves from his throat. “If something went wrong up there, you could both get hurt. I could never stand to lose you, but to lose the baby —“

He cuts himself off, throat suddenly constricting. Even the thought of something harming his budding family almost overwhelms him. He’s already lost the family he was born to. The idea of losing the one he’s chosen... Phillip can’t bear it. Though he refuses to cry in front of Anne, he sees the surprise in her eyes when she realizes how affected he is by this. 

Phillip turns his head, not willing to face her. He would protect Anne and their unborn child against anything... but what can he do against Anne herself? If she belongs in the air, is it his place to stop her? He knows he can’t. Still, lightning images of Anne’s body crumpled beneath a swinging trapeze flash through his mind, and it makes him sick. He could not bear it. He can’t lose them..

“Maybe,” Anne says softly, and her voice jars Phillip out of his thoughts. “I can just watch. That’s close enough to flying, isn’t it?”

Phillip looks up at her, surprised. He certainly hadn’t meant to guilt her into anything; but when he meets her eyes, he sees nothing but understanding in them. Anne realizes how he feels; and she feels the same way. Her restless yearning for the sky cannot compete with her own desire to keep their family safe.

A smile tugs across his lips as he reaches out, running a hand over Anne’s curls. She smiles, cupping the back of his neck with one gentle hand.

“Yeah,” she affirms. “I can stand to stay on the ground for a little while.”


End file.
